CHINA: British, South African, Indian Tourists Detained in Northern China

An aid group says some are accused of watching videos deemed to be terrorist propaganda.Chinese police have detained 20 foreign tourists from South Africa, the U.K. and India who were passing through the northern region of Inner Mongolia, said officials and a relative of some of the people in custody.

China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said the foreign nationals were arrested last week in the city of Ordos over “suspicions of criminal wrongdoing.” Its statement didn’t give details on specific allegations. Local public-security officials were holding nine of the tourists under criminal detention as investigations continue, while the other 11 would be deported, the ministry said. It didn’t disclose the foreigners’ identities.

The tourists—comprising 10 South Africans, nine Britons and one Indian national—were visiting ancient Chinese sites on a 1½-month tour when they were arrested Friday morning at the airport in Ordos, according to a relative of three of the tourists.

Members of the tour group have been accused of watching a propaganda video, according to Shameel Joosub, chief executive of Vodacom Group, the South African arm of U.K. telecommunications giant Vodafone Group PLC. He said his uncle, aunt and brother were among the nine tourists under criminal detention.

Chinese authorities “suggested that some members [of the tour group] were linked to a terror group [and were] watching propaganda videos in their hotel room,” according to Gift of the Givers Foundation, a South African disaster-response nonprofit that has been assisting some families of those detained.

Gift of the Givers—which has assisted in international hostage negotiations involving South African nationals—got involved after relatives of some of the tourists sought help from the charity, said its founder, Imtiaz Sooliman. According to its website, the group provides emergency relief and medical care, among other services, in disaster and conflict zones including in Syria, Somalia and Haiti.

Mr. Sooliman said the charity has no links to any of those detained or to their relatives.

China’s foreign ministry said it couldn’t confirm the precise reasons for the tourists’ detention, while the Ministry of Public Security didn’t respond to a request to comment. A spokesman for the Ordos public-security bureau declined to comment.

The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that nine British nationals and two people with dual U.K. and South African citizenship “were detained in northern China,” of whom six have been deported.

“Consular staff have visited the group to provide assistance and we are liaising with Chinese authorities,” an FCO spokeswoman said.

South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is in China for a five-day visit ending Friday, said his government is “dealing with the matter” and is “hoping that there will be a solution as time goes on.”

A spokesman for the Indian embassy in Beijing said staff there were still awaiting information from Chinese authorities.

According to Gift of the Givers, the six deported British nationals were expected to arrive in the U.K. by Thursday, while the other five tourists facing deportation—all South Africans—were expected to return home by Friday.